"If I do not stop to help this man..."

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15, 1929.  Tomorrow in the United States, we officially celebrate his birthday.  President Ronald Reagan signed a bill in 1983 marking the third Monday of every January as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the first national holiday honoring an African American.  It is right that we celebrate Dr. King.

Last year, on the fiftieth anniversary of his assassination on April 4, 1968, several civil rights leaders were asked what would Dr. King say about America today.  NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had this to say:

America, we all have shared the hope of the American dream – but some of us have had that dream deferred.

We all have been inspired by the idyllic vision of a colorblind America, an America in which justice is a reality for everyone.

But, America, some have conspired to stifle that dream.

Some of us see life as a crowded footrace in which the only way they can win is to hobble the other runners – particularly runners who don’t look, think, worship, dress or talk like them. Some are under the impression that not everyone deserves to have an equal shot at their dreams.

America, we are in a shameful condition. In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr helped us to acknowledge that, 100 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, “the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.”

It’s now 155 years since emancipation, and our national shame continues. We have an administration that targets the very people for whom King envisioned justice, whom the constitution is meant to protect and to help thrive.

People of color, women, the LGBTQ community, immigrants and others feel as though they are in an abusive relationship with this frightened faction of America. Those who perpetuate the abuse keep saying how much they’ve improved, how many fewer broken bones and bruises there are. That we should be grateful.

Fewer bruises is not our dream.

Our dream is to run as hard and fast and far as we can with only the wind and gravity and our own inertia to overcome. And not to have that dream deferred for another 155 years.

Dr. King gave his final speech in Memphis, Tennessee on April 3, 1968.  The city's sanitation workers were on strike.  He had traveled to Memphis on two previous occasions in March of same year to support the striking workers, leading a march on the second visit that ended in violence.  He had returned seeking to end the violence and restore peaceful demonstrations.  He gave a speech (called his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech), which contained the famous words (eerily prophetic):

"We've got some difficult days ahead.  But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop...I've seen the Promised Land.  I may not get there with you.  But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land."

Towards the end of his speech, he repeats the story of the Good Samaritan from the Bible.  If you are not familiar with the story, it goes something like this.  A traveler (a Jewish man) was attacked by robbers on the road.  The robbers left the man to die on the side of the road.  Several individuals (including a priest and a Levite) soon walked by, but no one stopped by to help the man.  They just crossed to the other side of the road and kept walking.  Finally, a Samaritan (the Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies apparently) stopped and helped the man, taking him to safety and paying someone to continue to care for him while he recovered from his injuries.

Dr. King offered several theories about why the priest and the Levite did not stop to help the man, a fellow Jew.  Perhaps they were scared that the robbers were still in the area, and if they stopped to help, they would be the robbers' next victim.  Or perhaps they were worried that the man on the ground was faking his injuries and was waiting to trap them. 

He goes on to say, "And so the first question that the priest asked - the first question that the Levite asked, was 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?'  But then the Good Samaritan came by.  And he reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'"

That question is just as relevant today as it was back then in 1968.  If we don't help our fellow humans, what will happen to them?  There are so many ways that we can help - so many ways that we should help.  Tomorrow, we would do well to remember Dr. King's words.  And we can best celebrate his life - we can best honor his life - by living his words.  "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?"